How to decorate my office?
April 23, 2018 7:06 AM   Subscribe

I've been in my office for about 18 months and don't have much in the way of storage or decor. Suggestions?

(Please don't take any of this as complaining as I am grateful to have an office!) My office is small and painted with an institutional light yellow color. Currently it includes:
- a reddish-brown desk and black chair (I'd prefer an L-shaped desk but that's what I have right now)
- a grey chair for someone to meet with me
- a mini refrigerator with items stacked on it in storage boxes
- a door that closes with a hook for my coat
- a trash can
- a white board that fell off the wall
- some random items on the floor (crappy laptops, a goldfish bowl filled with cords no one needs, etc.)

One of the biggest challenges is that the only storage I have is the desk drawers and the boxes stacked on top of the mini fridge. On my desk, I have two pictures of family, a bottle of lotion, a stack of papers, keyboard, phone, hand sanitizer, binder clips, stapler, and Clorox wipes.

This all sounds kind of grim, doesn't it.

I think my boss would be amenable to reimbursing me for things like a white board that is not on the floor, bulletin board and such but in the event that that is not okay, I'd like to stay under $100-200 for a budget. I have a facilities team I can ask for help with things like hanging a bulletin board or pictures.

I'm not looking for an office that looks like it belongs on Pinterest or in an Anthropologie catalog - just not to be a fairly barren, boring place.

Things I've considered:
- wall decals (though will they ruin the paint in the office?)
- putting a poster or decal of a window scene like this) immediately behind my desk so people see it when I do video chat (cute?! dumb?!)
- ... and that's kind of it. I can get a white board but I also don't know what I'll use it for and if I'm not going to use it, what's the point. I used to use one though so I can figure that out. I thought I could put photos on a bulletin board perhaps. I suppose I could put a scarf on one or both of the chairs to both add color to the office and so I have one around if I get cold or feel like I should wear one.

The lack of storage means I have few places to put things like plants and pictures. I can try to put away more of the stuff that's on the floor in my desk drawers but there's only so much real estate there. I'd also like to work on developing a collection of snacks so that's at least one drawer. Perhaps a small coat rack would be a good idea?

I take public transportation to work so it would be a little difficult to take items from home to the office but it's doable. If I came up with a plan for what items I'd like to add to my office, I thought I'd approach my boss (she's off-site so it's tough to go over to her but she's exceptionally available) and some colleagues here who may know if, for example, someone is leaving the organization and will be getting rid of something. If I came up with some good ideas, I thought I could buy some stuff on Amazon and have it shipped to my office.

I apologize that this seems scatter-brained but it's something I've been trying to put in a question for a while and each time I've typed it out, it sounded weird. Thanks for your help!
posted by kat518 to Work & Money (13 answers total) 3 users marked this as a favorite
 
Last year I started tacking up free postcards I've gotten from restaurants and hotels and various attractions I've visited with my family or friends. I have a nice colorful wall now and every piece evokes a pleasant, non-work related memory. Once you start keeping an eye out for these postcards you'll discover lots of places have them lying around. It's cheap and easy and very personal without giving your coworkers too much of a glimpse inside your life.
posted by something something at 7:15 AM on April 23, 2018


I asked a very similar question about two months ago and got a lot of helpful ideas.
posted by notorious medium at 7:28 AM on April 23, 2018


Response by poster: I like that idea, something something (reminds me of my mother-in-law's postcard collection) but the walls here are too hard for pushpins so I'd need something like a bulletin board. I thought of using washi tape but I think that's too informal. And thank you, notorious medium!
posted by kat518 at 7:38 AM on April 23, 2018


Is the white board magnetic? I have a very large one in my office and don't write on it but instead use to pin up stuff with magnets.

It sounds like you have no shelves. I have ugly shelves but improved the look by adding these drawer boxes , in different colors and now you hardly notice the ugliness of the shelves.

And if you have no shelves they are sturdy enough to stack. They are really easy to assemble.
posted by 15L06 at 8:04 AM on April 23, 2018


Lamps! Better lighting will make a huge difference even if you do nothing else, and overhead lights are just awful. A desk lamp plus a floor lamp might be a good combo for you.
posted by Automocar at 8:27 AM on April 23, 2018 [4 favorites]


I have found that lamps, plants, and artwork immediately elevate any space. The alternate lighting creates a warm, friendly, comforting glow. Plants freshen office/classroom air and provide a connection with nature/outdoors. Artwork can be personal (something you created at a wine/paint night or a gift from a friend) or something that you pick up at Target/HomeGoods/Ikea/etc. I've also had great success with a shawl draped over the back of my office chair and a small, colorful rug on the floor.

At every job I've had, there have always been comments made about how I was given the "best office" or the "best classroom." This, of course, has never been true. There's just something about bringing thoughtfulness into a space that can take it from boring to inspired in just a few simple steps. You will have a wonderful, unique space in no time at all!
posted by WaspEnterprises at 8:29 AM on April 23, 2018 [4 favorites]


Bulletin board solution: roll of cork, tape it on or nail it in. You can often get it from Staples.
Place to put stuff solution: order a storage unit or book shelf from somewhere that delivers (sometimes Ikea, Target, etc.)
Check with facilities to see of they can hang your whiteboard in a secure way.
A poster behind your head is a fine idea. Monet’s Garden?

I worked with a guy who used that whiteboard paint on an entire wall in his office, which was handy for him (he could talk on the phone and jot notes on the wall) and fun for us (we could write little notes and drawings for him.)
posted by blnkfrnk at 8:31 AM on April 23, 2018 [2 favorites]


Lamps and rugs.
posted by jasondigitized at 1:19 PM on April 23, 2018


DEFINITELY get a plant or three. Do you have an IKEA nearby? I've found their snake plants and ZZ plants to be basically unkillable, in low light situations and when I forget to water for weeks at a time. They have cute, cheap pots and I literally just thunk the plastic pot it comes in down into a ceramic and metal pot and call it a day.

I also recommend a fish, if you feel like you can care for it. You already have the fishbowl! Get a beta fish and enjoy a little life in your office. I had one in a basement office that only had a tiny sink in the (far away) bathroom and we survived all right.

I wonder if ordering a small bookshelf or cube shelf from Amazon would help your storage needs. What kinds of things do you need to store?
posted by raspberrE at 3:04 PM on April 23, 2018


Response by poster: Ikea is nearby but difficult to access for Reasons. But I can look for plants elsewhere. Fish is a good idea maybe. I was looking at shelves like this on Amazon. I don't need to store a ton of stuff. I have a few laptops that I'm not using and some rando papers. I thought I could get some nice boxes to store the laptops and maybe use one also to fill with snacks because snacks.

I like the white board paint - we actually have a random weird column in my condo that we painted with white board paint. Probably outside the scope of decorating my office (though my colleague just covered his cubicle walls in white paper so who knows).

To clarify re: the white board: my boss handed me one that a former colleague was using but I can't hang it because it doesn't have the mounting hardware (tried using command hooks and failed). So I thought I'd just buy a new one.

Thanks for your feedback so far, open to other ideas!
posted by kat518 at 3:23 PM on April 23, 2018 [1 favorite]


Regarding the fish, consider your climate and office HVAC practices. I loved my office tank but eventually figured out that the office got too hot (Los Angeles) over three day weekends because the air conditioning would be shut off for two days instead of one. There were needless tragedies as a result. A bigger tank might have been ok.
posted by carmicha at 5:37 PM on April 23, 2018


Can you get the boss to authorize a work file storage cabinet to store some of the crap in? Then an inexpensive, but pretty scarf to cover the top, plus a cute lamp, a plant, maybe a hard candy bowl.
I like your idea of a poster.
posted by BlueHorse at 5:46 PM on April 23, 2018


A fishbowl is not actually big enough for a goldfish, betta, or really any other fish! Office fish are great, but you want to get a 5-gallon tank, minimum - the Fluval Spec is generally well-recommended - and bigger is actually easier since they need cleaning less often. (Goldfish really need at least ten gallons; a lone betta is okay with five.) A filter and heater are strongly recommended as well.
posted by waffleriot at 6:12 PM on April 23, 2018


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